


Building An Empire

by maicings



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Rumors, Slow Burn, Underage Drinking, allura is the principal b/c she's pOWERFUL AND I LOVE HER, also lance plays football b/c i do what i want, also shiro's a music teacher, drunk sloppy makeouts, gender neutral pronouns for pidge, keith is in a band w/ rolo and nyma, lance is bi as fuck, rolo is kind of a dick, this is just gonna be teen+ for now cause idk where im gonna go with this right now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-06 11:25:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8748790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maicings/pseuds/maicings
Summary: Lance is the wide receiver for his high school football team.Keith is the bassist and backup singer for a rock band called "EMPIRE".Things can't get more cliche than this.But they totally can.





	1. Chapter 1

"Lance!"

Lance was quickly startled awake by his teacher's booming voice, peering up from his desk to see the whole class staring at him. He'd fallen asleep.

His teacher glared at him intensely. "You'd better not be falling asleep in my class again, young man, or I might just have to write you a referral to see Principal Allura. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yeah, yeah." Lance stretched, tilting his head from side to side and cracking his neck. "You got it, teach."

His teacher sighed, pushing up her glasses and setting her textbook onto her desk. She drawled on for a few moments more before the bell rang, and Lance was up from his chair in a heartbeat. He couldn't wait for his next class. He had chemistry with Pidge and Hunk, and he didn't like to brag, but Lance believed that they were the best damn team in the whole class. Okay, he did like bragging. He loved bragging. But who could blame him?

For being a jock, Lance was a surprisingly huge science nerd, and he thrived for cool experiments. Pidge was more into robotics and tech, and Hunk was a huge fan of chemical reactions. Together, they were the holy trinity of geeks, and nothing could get in their way.

As he was walking to his locker, he noticed a slender, lanky person in a black hoodie trying to put up a poster on the main hall's corkboard. Too many things were already on that corkboard and Lance couldn't believe this person found any place to put their poster. Sadly, it was at the very top, and the person was struggling to reach it. They stood on their tiptoes, one arm pressed against the wall and the other desperately reaching towards the top of the board. They were _excruciatingly_ close to finally pinning the poster up, but they couldn't quite get it on there right. Lance noticed that their nails were painted black, and they wore leather fingerless gloves. Lance shuddered.

After watching them go at it for a minute, Lance felt only a bit obligated to help them out. He strolled over to the janitor's closet, opening the door and pulling out a small step stool. He called out to the person with a small shout, kicking the step stool their way. They turned around quickly, the hood of their jacket falling down and revealing long, black hair and a masculine face covered in too many piercings for Lance’s taste. The boy looked down at the step stool and frowned, turning back around and attempting to pin the poster up by himself. “Sorry,” he huffed,“but I don’t need it. I’ve got this under control.”

Lance was only a bit annoyed that his chivalrous action had been denied, but he chose to look past it. He sauntered up behind him, chuckling. "How long have you been going at this?"

The boy scowled. "Does it really matter?"

Lance rolled his eyes, nudging the step stool against the wall and stepping onto it himself before placing his fingers on top of the other boy’s and finally pushing the pin into place. As he stepped down, he watched the boy go stiff for just a moment before almost immediately dropping his head, sighing. Under his breath, he squeaked out a mumbled "thanks". Before Lance could even reply, he was already walking away, pulling his hood back on and disappearing into the crowd of teenagers.

When the boy was out of sight, Lance turned to look at the poster he had hung up. The word " **EMPIRE** " was right at the top, written in a large, edgy font that made Lance cringe. Near the middle, the poster read "Live music with Rolo Valdez".

_So it's rock show?_  Lance pondered.

At the bottom of the poster, there was an address for a place he had never heard of, a date, and a time slot for when they would be playing, which just so happened to end at midnight. The show would be on Saturday, which was tomorrow. Lance skimmed over the poster one last time before snickering, entertaining himself with the thought of the band being a terrible screamo band before walking to his next class.

**\-----**

The day ended successfully, with Lance, Pidge and Hunk only managing to start a small fire in the lab. Lance pulled off his goggles and lab coat, gathering his things into his bag before turning to walk out of class with his friends at his side.

"Remember," Lance declared, "I've got a game tonight. I won't forgive you guys if you don't show up!" He tousled Pidge's hair, grinning.

"I don't even _like_ football." Pidge looked up from their phone, reaching up to fix their hair. "I don't even know why I go to your games."

Lance gave a dramatic gasp, placing his hand on his chest and huffing loudly. "Pidge!" he teased, "I'm shocked!"

Hunk laughed, patting Lance calmly on the back. "Don't worry man," he said, wrapping his arm around Lance's slender shoulder. "We wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Thanks, Hunk," Lance said, bumping fists with his friend.

"So," Pidge put their phone in their pocket. "You guys got any plans for the weekend?"

"None that I know of," Hunk said. "You got any ideas?"

"Well..." Pidge stopped the boys by extending their arm in front of them both, pointing over at the poster Lance looked at earlier. "Why don't we all go to that?"

Oh no. Oh no no no no no. No. Lance tried to cover up his discomfort with a laugh. "You sure about that, Pidge? Looks pretty edgy to me."

"No dude, I heard they were actually pretty good!" Pidge adjusted their glasses. "Despite their... _unique_ poster."

"Yeah," Hunk added. "The bassist even goes to our school!"

"Really?!" Pidge exclaimed, leaning forward to look at Hunk.

"Keith Kogane!" Hunk crossed his arms proudly. "I share a history class with him. He doesn't really talk much, though."

Lance thought back to the boy he talked to earlier. _That's gotta be him,_ he thought.

"Keith?" he questioned. "Black mullet? Wears too much eyeliner? Has a ton of piercings?"

"Yep, that's him!"

_Bingo._

Lance snorted, remembering his embarrassing encounter with him earlier.

"What's so funny?" Pidge prodded.

"Nothin'," Lance shoved a hand into his back pocket. "He's just got a stupid name."

Suddenly, Lance felt Hunk land a soft but firm hit to the back of his head. "Rude."

Lance laughed before he leaned backward popping joints in his back.

"I don't know, Pidge," he said. "I'm not that into rock music."

"There will be alcohol!" Pidge hummed, rocking back and forth on their feet.

Lance's eyebrows shot up.

"Alright," Lance gave in. "I'll go. You comin' too, Hunk?"

"It's not really my scene either, but..." Hunk shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Why not."

Pidge nearly squealed in excitement, snapping a photo of the poster and sending it to the boys' phones as fast as they could.

Lance couldn't believe he was actually going to this thing. Once he got the picture, he saved it and added a reminder to his phone.

_All right, Keith,_ Lance thought. _You'd better be as good as they all say._

Lance rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe with a few drinks in him, the music wouldn't be that bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **my tumblr: maicings.tumblr.com**   
>  **my deviantart: maicings.deviantart.com**   
>  **my youtube: http://bit.ly/2h8Cxhe**


	2. Chapter 2

**_[CHAT LOG OPENED]_ **

**_[TIME: 9:12  PM]_ ** **  
** **Robo-fucker 5000** (Pidge Holt) **Said:**

everybody ready to get their fuckin faces blown off

**(9:12 PM)**

**Mom Friend** (Hunk Garrett) **Said:**

...Not necessarily ;;

**(9:13  PM)**

**Gasolina™** (Lance McClain) **Said:**

chill out, hunk it’s gonna be fiiiiine!

**(9:13  PM)**

**Gasolina™** (Lance McClain) **Said:**

we’re just gonna get drunk and listen to shitty emo music with pidge for a while

**(9:13 PM)**

**Gasolina™** (Lance McClain) **Said:** **  
** PLUS there’s gonna be a ton of food there so we can just chill out, k???

**(9:13 PM)**

**Mom Friend** (Hunk Garrett) **Said:**

Okay okay whatever you say.

**(9:14 PM)**

**Mom Friend** (Hunk Garrett) **Said:**

I’m not gonna be drinking, though! I’ve got to be your designated driver.

**(9:14 PM)**

**Robo-fucker 5000** (Pidge Holt) **Said:**

yeah

 **(9:15 PM)**  
**Robo-fucker 5000** (Pidge Holt) **Said:**

cause we all know how it turns out when lance promises he’ll do it

**(9:15 PM)**

**Robo-fucker 5000** (Pidge Holt) **Said:**

we all end up smashed and hunks car gets fuckin demolished

**(9:15 PM)**

**Gasolina™** (Lance McClain) **Said:**

okay shut up????? that was a one-time thing and hunk’s car was fine!

**(9:16 PM)**

**Mom Friend** (Hunk Garrett) **Said:**

Um… it really wasn’t? I’ve still got a big visible dent on the bumper.

**(9:17 PM)**

**Gasolina™** (Lance McClain) **Said:**

asdfghjkl; water under the briiiiiidge

**(9:18 PM)**

**Robo-fucker 5000** (Pidge Holt) **Said:**

anyways you better be getting ready cause hunk and i are on our way to your place rn

**(9:22 PM)**

**Gasolina™** (Lance McClain) **Said:**

way ahead of you.

**(9:23 PM)**

**Mom Friend** (Hunk Garrett) **Said:**

Alright, buddy. See you in a bit!

**(9:24 PM)**

**_[CHAT LOG CLOSED]_ **

**_[TIME: 9:24 PM]_ **

Lance tossed his phone onto his bed and opened up his dresser. He rummaged around in his drawer for a while before finally deciding on something. He didn't really own anything that he thought was suitable for a rock show, so he just decided to go with a striped shirt and some dark blue jeans. _Well,_  he thought, _At least they're dark._

He quickly slicked back his hair in the mirror and walked over to his bed, flopping onto it. He turned over on his stomach and picked up his phone, looking at the picture of the poster again. Suddenly, images of Keith's face and bitter demeanor flashed through his mind.

 _"I don’t need it" "I’ve got this under control" "Does it matter?" What an asshole._ He thought. _Who does that guy think he is?_

Lance was quickly pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of Hunk's obnoxiously loud car horn outside of his window. He jumped up from his bed, grabbing his blue Lions letterman from his coat rack before bouncing down the stairs. He shouted a quick goodbye to his mom and shot out the door, still pulling on his jacket by the time he got to Hunk's car.

"Looks like someone's excited." Pidge snickered from the passenger's seat.

  
"Shut up!" Lance whined. "I just want to get drunk and maybe get a few girls' numbers, okay?"

  
Pidge rolled their eyes, tapping away at their phone. "Whatever you say, dude."

  
"Pidge," Hunk said. "You got the directions pulled up?"

  
"Yep. Looks like it's in the middle of nowhere, though."

  
"...Creepy." Lance murmured.

  
"I second Lance on that." Hunk stammered. "Maybe we can just hang at my house? That's still totally an option, by the way. 100%."

  
"Nope!" Pidge reached over Hunk, starting the car themselves. "We're gonna go do this. _100%._ "

  
Hunk groaned, slumping back in his seat and beginning to drive forward. "...Okay. But if I throw up on the way there it's your fault."

After about half an hour of driving, Pidge finally pointed out the destination.

  
"Take a right here! I think this is it."

Hunk parked next to a big tree next to a giant chain link fence. As they stepped out of the car, they heard the muffled sound of drums and loud, drunk teenagers fill the crisp autumn air. The trio sauntered over to the fence, stepping through a large hole made in the middle. Posters for the bands playing that night were plastered all over the worn bricks of an abandoned building, and Lance spotted the one for **EMPIRE**. He waved his friends over as he approached a large metal door.

"Alright." Pidge beamed, placing their hand on the door handle. "Let's do this!"

As the door swung open, loud music instantly flooded Lance's ears. As they closed the door behind them, the sound of melodic guitars and ear shattering drums bounced off of the walls, rattling Lance's bones. Before they could even get a foot into the open room in front of them, a cute young lady with black hair pulled up into two tiny buns walked up to them with a red sharpie.

"Hey!" She shouted over the music, "My name's Morgan. I'm the one who's running the _"bar"_ here. If you guys want drinks, they're on the house! Any of you guys not drinkin' tonight?"

Lance and Pidge glanced over at Hunk, who raised his hand timidly.

"Alright! I'm just gonna draw a lil' something on your hand real quick. Helps me keep track of all the party poopers."

"H-Hey!" Hunk scoffed.

"I'm kidding!"

Morgan reached for Hunk's hand, drawing a little frowny face on the back of it.

"Okay, you're all set!" She turned around, walking back to her station. "Have fun!"

When she was out of sight, Lance pulled Hunk's hand close to his face, looking at the sad face.

"... _Party pooper._ "

Hunk pulled his hand away. "Shut up, Lance!"

Pidge chuckled, pulling the two towards a tattered red couch at the back of the room.

"You guys stay here while I get some drinks!"

As Pidge vanished from sight, Lance was quick to notice Keith standing next to a taller, seemingly older guy with a purple beanie and white hair. From what he could see, it looked like he was attempting to talk to Keith, but he was being completely ignored. Lance didn't notice just how long he was staring until he felt Pidge nudge his arm, drink in hand.

“I see you’ve found the man himself.”

“...Yeah.” Lance opened his beer. “He doesn’t talk much, huh?”

“Guess not. He makes up for it with his singing, though.”

“He sings? Since when does he sing?”

“I was looking them up after your game yesterday and I came across some videos of their other performances. The guy with the beanie and cool guitar is the main attraction, obviously, but Keith’s backup vocals are actually pretty good!”

Lance grumbled to himself, tearing his eyes from Keith and taking a sip of his beer.

Pidge tugged on his sleeve quickly after, regaining his attention.

“See for yourself! Looks like it's their turn to go on.”

Lance watched as the taller guy hopped onto the stage, pulling up Keith and...

_Oh hello there._

The girl he had pulled up had long, blonde hair pulled up in two high ponytails at the back of her head. She wore a black crop top that showed her slim stomach along with baggy pants that slipped off of her hips _juuust_ right.

Lance was nearly drooling.

"Hey, guys!"

The main guy was already up at the mic, his words low and husky, yet booming all at the same time.

"As many of you may know already, I'm Rolo Valdez, and this is my band, **EMPIRE**."

The crowd was already cheering.

"I'm joined up here by my bassist, backup singer and best bro, Keith Kogane..."

Everyone let out a big cheer for him, and Lance picked up on a girl screaming _"have my babies"_ in a shrill voice. Keith gave a small smirk as he waved to the crowd.

_He was wearing the same shitty fingerless gloves from before._

"...And the beautiful Nyma Dunbarr!"

Everyone cheered, and three guys lined up near the back of the crowd began chanting her name. A few others joined in before Rolo grabbed everyone's attention.

"But enough of the formalities..."

He picked up his guitar from the stage, leaning in close to the mic.

"Let's get this fuckin' party started."

The crowd was ecstatic as Nyma sat down, tapping her drumsticks together before starting a simple and fast paced beat.

Keith tapped his foot to the beat.

Rolo waited a minute before tuning in with his guitar.

He leaned into the mic.

_"Check check..."_

Keith followed suit.

_"Check check..."_

Rolo grinned.

_"Check check check check check."_

Keith smiled back.

 _"Check_ chhh _..."_

And then, together, they began to sing in unison.

Lance was trying to listen for Keith's vocals like Pidge had said, but they were getting drowned out by the noise of Rolo's voice.

Keith played exactly how he'd expected him to. His strums were feverish and unrestrained, and he bobbed his head, letting his obnoxiously long hair fall over his face. He avoided all eye contact with the crowd, keeping his gaze laser focused on his bass, occasionally swinging his head back to push his bangs out of his eyes.

 _What an asshole_ , Lance thought again.

 _"You don't believe in God_  
_I don't believe in luck_  
_They don't believe in us_  
_But I believe in the enemy"_

Suddenly, Lance was nearly knocked off of his feet by something he had never expected.

Keith started _moaning_ into his microphone.

It was a short segment, but it completely threw him for a loop.

Keith let go of his bass, letting the strap hold it in place. He pushed his hair back out of his face with one hand, the other trailing down his body towards his crotch. He lingered for a while, nearly fucking his own hand the way he ground against it. Then, he slid back up, lifting up the hem of his shirt and showing off his toned, pale stomach before picking his bass up and singing along again.

Lance gripped the side of the couch _hard_ , chugging his beer.

**_This was going to be a long night._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **my tumblr: maicings.tumblr.com**   
>  **my deviantart: maicings.deviantart.com**   
>  **my youtube: http://bit.ly/2h8Cxhe**


End file.
